Theme: Redeemed

Well. That didn’t take long.

Caroline’s in her second week of middle school and got completely overwhelmed by homework last night. There was the usual daily stuff, of course. But the main culprit was two book reports that had to be written about two books she read over the summer.

I helped a little but mainly served as her personal thesaurus (“Mom, what’s a word that means, like,…”) and moral support. I refuse to do my child’s homework for her. Even when I looked at the finished product on the computer, I (barely) refrained from editing.

So a late night and an early morning for both of us. She’s downstairs finishing up the second one even as we speak.

But the one thing that she had the most trouble with was the theme.

“Mom, what’s the THEME???”
“Baby, I have no idea. I didn’t read the book!”

I mean, she was really stuck. She would put it off, work on another part, then go back to it until it was literally the last missing piece.

Late at night, frustrated kid, exhausted parent. Not exactly the greatest recipe for clarity.

But she got through that one and is (hopefully) finishing up the second one as we speak.

And I can relate to her struggle. Last week, as a life coach, I was able to see a formerly invisible obstacle that’s been keeping me stuck for years. (Seriously, if I could coach MYSELF as well as I coach others, my life would be even MORE amazing.)

It was the theme.

I had unknowingly been building a theme in my life. And not a good one. Once a theme is established and owned, many other unrelated incidents bend into that category. Based on several relationships and jobs, I had decided this:

People throw me away.

I had plenty of evidence to support this and had unknowingly been living under it for I don’t know how long. I definitely felt expendable in several (not all) jobs in the past decade or so. I was never let go, but resigned under painful circumstances. And a number of close relationships have ended for completely unrelated reasons, but that I could easily sum up as me being thrown away, if I wanted to.

But why would I want to? Can you say ‘victim complex’? Ew.

It hit me one night before I fell asleep. I was horrified and embarrassed. I made a dramatic proclamation to my sleepy husband that I was renouncing that self-made theme of my life. Unfortunate things happen. Some may look similar to each other. But that is not the theme I want to claim for my life. It is unbiblical and completely void of a couple of Jesus’ themes of redemption and making all things new.

When Caroline was wrestling with her project, I had her read the definition of ‘theme’ over and over so she knew what she was looking for. And her paper said, “What message is the author trying to convey to the reader through this story?”

I can say with 100% certainty that the Author of MY story would never choose me being thrown away as the theme of my life, nor would He want that to be communicated to the ‘readers’ of my story (those who are watching to see how I represent Christ in everyday situations).

Which begs the question: If getting thrown away is not the theme of my life (and it’s not), then WHAT IS?

That question didn’t linger too long in my mind before the words of an old hymn came to mind. The title of the song alone is shockingly perfect: “Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It.”

Verse 3:
I think of my blessed Redeemer,
I think of Him all the day long:
I sing, for I cannot be silent;
His love is the theme of my song.

Refrain:
Redeemed, redeemed,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed, redeemed,
His child and forever I am.

I think we have a winner. I know that hymns are not the same as scripture, but I don’t see anything here that’s unbiblical or extra-biblical.

Broken heart: REDEEMED
Hurt feelings: REDEEMED
Sense of failure: REDEEMED
Perception of expendability: REDEEMED

Redemption may occur in our lifetime. We may see painful experienced used to minister to others, sanctify ourselves and/or otherwise further His purposes.

Or the redemption may come later, when Jesus comes back. But we have the guarantee of heaven that redemption is coming for all who believe.

So what’s the theme of the story God is writing with my life?

His love is the theme of my song because His child and forever I am.

And instead of proclaiming my feelings of rejection, I will start proclaiming redemption.

Redeemed.
How I love to proclaim it.
…the blood of the Lamb.
…His infinite mercy.
His child and forever I am.